The 6 Stocks To Watch: Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap (Thursday 3/7/19)

You don't need a weatherman to tell you which way the stock market winds are blowing, Jim Cramer told his Mad Money viewers Thursday. Forget about looking at the averages, Cramer said, there are six stocks that will tell you when this relentless selling will end.

The first stock Cramer suggested paying attention to was FedEx (FDX - Get Report) . He said FedEx has always been an excellent barometer for the overall health of global commerce. Next was Micron Technology (MU - Get Report) . Cramer said the company that led the recent semiconductor decline will likely also be the one that leads the group higher.

When Workday (WDAY - Get Report) reported a good quarter last week, the stock fell, taking the rest of the cloud stocks with it. Cramer said investors need to see this stock stabilize before the cloud kings will be safe to buy.

Likewise with Action Alerts PLUS holdings Goldman Sachs (GS - Get Report) for the financials and CVS Health (CVS - Get Report) for the healthcare names. As long as these stocks continue to plunge, so too will their sectors. Cramer said he wants to see two up days in a row in CVS before he'd consider buying the healthcare names.

Finally, there's Facebook (FB - Get Report) , the Action Alerts PLUS holding that used to be a leader, but is now dragging the FAANG stocks lower. When Facebook is able to rally, Cramer concluded, this leadership group will be buyable again.

Executive Decision: Barrick Gold

For his "Executive Decision" segment, Cramer spoke with Mark Bristow, president and CEO of Barrick Gold (GOLD - Get Report) , to find out more about the merger mania sweeping the industry. Barrick is currently in discussions to acquire Newmont Mining (NEW) , which is itself attempting to merge with Goldcorp (GG) .

Bristow confirmed that discussions with Newmont are ongoing and the combined company would deliver tremendous value for all shareholders. He said the one universal truth in the mining business is that high quality assets make money, and Barrick and Newmont both have incredible assets. A deal could be done without issuing a single new share of stock, Bristow added.

Newmont and Barrick are already engaged in a joint venture in Nevada. Bristow said Nevada is an attractive destination, geologically speaking, and is far more desirable than other, more hostile, locations around the globe. He added that Barrick is equipped to manage high quality assets no matter where they are, including Nevada.

How to Play Funko

What should investors do when a stock reports a terrific quarter, but its share go into free fall? If that stock is pop culture toymaker Funko (FNKO - Get Report) , you start buying.

After reporting weak results last November and falling more than 21%, it looked like Funko had gotten its mojo back in 2019 as shares regained all of their losses and continued to power higher. But when the company reported a 10-cent-a-share earnings beat with great guidance last week, the initial surge from $19 to $24 a share was quickly repealed. Shares have been falling ever since, including another 5% today.

But Cramer said he's still a believer in Funko, especially now that shares are trading before where they reported those fabulous results. He said the key to Funko is not what it makes, but the fact that it is able to respond to the latest pop culture trends before anyone else. They continue to be the company with the hottest novelties and collectables and in a fickle market, that's exactly the spot you want to be in.

Homework

In his "Homework" segment, Cramer followed up on a stock that stumped him during an earlier show. He said that LogMeIn (LOGM - Get Report) , the cloud communications provider, had outperformed the market in 2016 and 2017, but saw its shares plunge from $109 to just $77 last year after the company slashed its guidance.

Flash forward to this quarter, when the company announced that 2019 would be an "investment year" with revenues falling from 2018 levels.

Cramer said shares of LogMeIn are a rare value in the cloud space, trading at a bargain price of just 16 times earnings. But, when you hear about falling revenues and increased spending, that typically means only one thing, increased competition, and that makes the stock too dangerous to own. The company has already surprised to the downside twice, Cramer concluded, and that makes it too risky. Lightning Round

Cramer was bearish on Avalara (AVLR) and Philip Morris International (PM - Get Report) .

No Huddle Offense

In his "No Huddle Offense" segment, Cramer reminded viewers that one of the biggest things standing in the way of profits is cynicism. Case in point, this week's FDA approval of Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ - Get Report) new anti-depressant drug Esketamine. Cramer said this approval was met with a wave of skepticism from people who don't truly appreciate how severe mental illness can be.

The fact is that Esketamine saves lives and for some severely depressed patients, this drug may be their only option. Recently, rival Allergan (AGN - Get Report) announced the failure of their depression treatment, which is all the more reason to applaud the efforts of J&J to bring a new treatment, the first in decades, to market.

Esketamine is a win for Action Alerts Plus holding J&J, a win for shareholders and a win for patients and their families.

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